


The Occupation of D'riluth

by Vegavis



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Male Character, Cat/Human Hybrids, Catboys & Catgirls, F/M, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff and Angst, Genocide, Heavy Angst, Implied Sexual Content, Mild Sexual Content, Murder, Nudity, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:07:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25040617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vegavis/pseuds/Vegavis
Summary: A small town in an inhospitable desert, a Horde Caravan with a need for rest, a lonely man searching for love that's more than what the Horde can offer, and a furry woman looking for someone who can show her the world.Or: What happened to all the Magicats?...Canon complacent prequel story, set a couple decades before the main series. It follows Carrero, a Hordesman who remembers what life was like before the army, as his squadron takes refuge in the Magicat kingdom of D'riluth.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	The Occupation of D'riluth

Carrero had always heard stories of the Crimson Waste, his mother had told him it was completely inhospitable. That nobody could survive out here and that it was a guaranteed death sentence to venture into its borders.

So why was he here?! He had no say in what missions the Horde would send him on, but at least they made sense. Here he was, in the back of a troop transport in a caravan led by Force Captain Rattlor, sweating his ass off in full trooper armor. Why? What business did the Horde have sending six transport trucks and a freaking tank into a wasteland? He had never even seen a tank before this, yet now he was sure the fumes it spit from its back would poison his mind for the rest of his life. He took off his helmet and immediately regretted it, the brightest moon shone down and burned his dark skin, the sand kicked up by the trucks clogged his throat and chapped his lips, and the smell of BO emanated off of the soldiers he was squished up next too. He was almost glad that the roof was open, even if it meant facing the heat, because he was sure the stench wafting off the octopus girl next to him would have knocked him out.

All in all, it was the worst day of his life. Which was saying a lot, given that he was a Horde Soldier. He didn't exactly remember the traumatic moment of the armies laying waste to his village and indoctrinating him into their forces at only twelve, so that helped.

As his mind wandered on the subject of megabombs and if they could truly create a nuclear winter and how much he wished Hordak would accidentally trip and level the Fright Zone with one, the transport lurched to a stop and he banged his head on the helmet of the soldier sitting next to him. After a grunt and an apology, Rattlor screamed a dry roar into the open sky from his spot at the head of the caravan. The cargo doors of the transport swung open, "we're here."

'Here,' as Carrero learned, was a small town built out of sandstone and dried cactus. Rattlor's tank stood menacingly in the center of mainstreet, the transport trucks lined up behind it. Carrero placed his helmet back on and strode out with his squadron, they stood in formation, stun batons in hand. He looked over his surroundings, the village seemed empty, but the fact that it hadn't been completely buried in sand meant there must be inhabitants. He recognized a bazaar, a drink store, a clothing store, and a tiny well sat in the center of the plaza. It was quaint, no more than fifty people must live here, and they all must have fled inside when they saw the rather loud convoy approach.

Force Captain Rattlor climbed to the top of his tank and pulled a megaphone to his mouth, "Citizens of the Crimson Waste, we come on behalf of the Horde, representing the will of the mighty Lord Hordak. We mean you no harm, we simply wish to add your settlement to our empire."

Out of the corner of his visor, Carrero saw a flash of movement. Pitch black in a quick blur, he assumed his eyes were playing tricks.

"Life under the Horde is a good one," said the Captain, "where you will be fed and protected from the evil Princesses. We ask you nothing of return, other than allowing us to be guests of your home."

From the largest building flanking the square came a short creature, standing upright like a human or a reptilian, but with large triangular ears and a swishing tail. Her hair formed a black mane that circled her neck, contrasting with the dark orange of her fur. She stood in a thick robe, which she had loosened enough for her shoulder to peek out the top.

"The Horde has no place in D’riluth. Leave now and never return."

"Your Majesty" Rattlor announces as he bows, which Carrero found a bit silly given the size of this 'kingdom.'

"We simply wish to give you the option of joining us, we will not force it" he continues. 

"Then we refuse" she quips. Her voice is harsh and deep, and Carrero speculates on how old she must be.

"Allow me to make my case, at least?" Rattlor's voice has a hint of begging, but the hiss which comes from his throat at the strain of forcing his reptilian mouth to use a human language gives his words a sinister edge.

The furry woman scowls, but does not object.

Rattlor continues, "The Queen's alliance has fallen after the Battle of Talon Mountain, the King is in Horde custody and the rulers of the four kingdoms have retreated to their own borders with their tails between their legs."

"We have no need for princesses, we have survived well enough on our own" she shouts. Carrero notices other civilians slowly peak their heads from their windows and behind corners. They all feature the same furry skin and triangle ears of their leader, though in a rainbow of colors.

Rattlor must have seen them too, as he hesitates in his speech. After he has assumedly counted heads, remaining confident in his squadron's superiority, he starts again. 

"My point, your Majesty, is that the Horde is winning the war. Soon all of Etheria will bow to Hordak. We are giving you the option to come willingly now, instead of unwillingly later."

Again, the woman scowls, but she walks forward and stands before the imposing tank. Rattlor jumps down, and offers his hand.

"We will never bow to you" she spits, pure hatred in her eyes as she slaps Rattlor's hand away. The snake man pulls his hands back, claws ready and teeth snarling as he stares down at the woman who barely stood the height of his chest. He is met back with the same posture, the woman now wielding sharp black claws of her own. Seeing this, the captain calms himself, wiping his hands off on his uniform like his talons were dirt he needed to rid of.

"Then will you at least let us stay for a short while? We are awfully tired from our trek."

"Never" she hissed.

Bounding towards the two came another woman, fur pitch black and visible under a see through robe in floral patterning. Rattlor tensed, but she grabbed onto the older woman instead. "Mother, please. They mean us no harm, at least let them rest."

Carrero was stunned. The young woman before him stood a head shorter than her mother, her eyes a bright shining blue, and he blushed at the loin cloth clearly visible under the translucent fabric of her robe. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, he wasn't completely new to this feeling and he had flings with some of the other cadets, but she stunned him. No girl or boy in the Horde could compare, he wished so dearly to rip off his helmet and see her in her full splendor without a visor tinting his vision green.

"Anyone fool enough to follow a tyrant like Hordak has no place with us." Despite the words, the older woman's voice had ever so slightly softened.

"Mother, please."

The emotions that traveled across the older woman's face were rapid and hard to make out, but she turned to Rattlor and held out her hand. "C'yra, I am the head of the village. This is my daughter, C'yra the second."

"Force Captain Rattlor, a pleasure to meet you both, and thank you." Rattlor nodded towards them both and shook the mother's hand.

…

Carrero stripped off his armor and flopped on the dusty bed. The hotel was modest, only two floors, but there were enough rooms from three soldiers to each. His two new roommates were complete strangers, and both green reptilians. He didn't speak a growl or hiss of their language, so he prepared himself for a lonely couple of months. That was apparently the deal, though he had been stuffed back into the transports with the other troops while Rattlor and C'yra negotiated it. They would stay for three months, enough time for Rattlor to convince Hordak they actually accomplished something he assumed, before they were all loaded back up like luggage and sent into the polluted hellhole of the Fright Zone. Again he asked himself, why? Why did he, a common human foot soldier, need to be here in the middle of the desert so Rattlor can relax while Hordak wrote his check?

Still, he didn't feel as miserable as this morning. It was cool in the hotel, he was finally out of that restrictive armor, and she was still on his mind. He smiled at the thought of her, her beautiful shining eyes, the curves of her body under that robe, her soft voice which he yearned to hear say his name. He blushed at his own thoughts, this was something he wasn't used to. Back as a cadet in the Horde, he had developed a crush on a skinny boy with tall frizzy hair, and so he slammed that boy into a locker and kissed him. They had an on and off relationship for years, sneaking into each other's beds and hiding in the showers after curfew. Eventually the spark had died, and the two slowly drifted away into awkward hellos. It was what made Carrero leave, to ask a transfer into another squadron, and left him here in the desert with strangers who had known each other their whole lives.

But that woman, the furred creature he had seen today, she was worse. If his feelings for the frizzy haired boy was a crush, then the black cat was true love. Again and again his mind toiled over every word she said, every movement her body made, every time her eyes scanned over the army and passed over his. 

He stood abruptly, the two lizards glancing up at him from their spot on the floor playing bot, shield, laser. He sprinted from the room, down the stairs and out the front lobby. Mainstreet was filled, soldiers who had not yet gotten to their rooms lined up to the hotel and furry civilians gawked and investigated the new visitors. A group of boys poked the tank with a cactus they had turned into a bat, before jumping when the pilot moved the turret slightly to their direction. Sitting on the edge of the well was Rattlor and C'yra the First, he spoke softly and gestured with his hands while the woman scowled. He laughed, and placed his hand on her exposed shoulder, causing her to swat it away and pull up her robe.

Carrero scanned the plaza, desperately searching. A purple woman, a black and white man, a pink child, but nothing of his crush. Disappointed, he wandered to the nearest shop and browsed the wares. Behind the counter stood a grumpy orange man with a large beard, Carrero avoided eye contact and felt the fabrics hanging from the wall. To his right, he heard snickering.

"How bad was the accident" said a tiny kid only a foot tall, surrounded by her posse of litter mates.

"What do you mean?" replied Carrero.

"You don't have any fur or ears or a tail, where you burned or something?"

Carrero chuckled. "Yes, I fought a mighty dragon who scored me with its white hot flames".

The kids giggled, "is that what you do in the Horde?"

He didn't have the heart to tell her he mostly sat around and trained, nor that the air had more taste than the food, or that he was pretty sure he had brain damage from how much the captains beat them, so he lied. "Yes, in the Horde we go on many adventures all across Etheria and fight away the evil Princesses".

The girl smiled wide, revealing sharp fangs and a couple missing teeth. "I want to be in the Horde when I grow up!"

His face soured, "you might not have a choice kid." He patted her head and scratched behind her ear. "What kind of critter are you anyways? I've never seen someone as hairy as you."

A boy who had been clinging to her side spoke up, "uh, we're the, uh um, Magicats. We're cats that have really good, uh, magic."

Carrero snorted, "a magicat huh? So are there sorcerers here?"

"We-"

"Don't practice magic anymore." The boy was cut off by the beautiful black woman Carrero had been looking for. "We're nomads, we move settlements often, so there usually isn't enough time to set up an observatory and collect the magic from the moon's light."

Carrero begged his mind to think up something to say, but it stood blank and empty as his eyes soaked up her every feature. She had light freckles, her skin had stripes of slightly darker color, and her pupils were in the form of deep dark slits among the blue of her iris.

"I uh, um, that sounds… uh" he stuttered. "Well you see I… well you see the Horde doesn't teach us much about magic and I… well."

C'yra rolled her eyes and looked down at the kids, "why don't you all go play outside. You don't want to bother the poor man, he just got here after all."

The kids sulked and whined and apologized, but with a stern look and a threat to tell their mothers, they left with a "yes, ma'am" and droopy tails.

"You seem pretty good with kids" he said, "in the Horde we have nurses who specialize in caring for orphans and children."

She cocked an eyebrow, "are you trying to recruit me?" 

He laughed, "maybe. I can't stay here after we move out, and I want to see you aga…" he trailed off as he realized what he was saying.

She giggled. "I might take you up on that offer, village life is a bit of a drag."

"To be honest, the Crimson Waste doesn't seem like a great home to me" Carrero jokes.

"Tell me about it, I hope I never see another grain of sand in my life."

"I've only been here a few days and it's already gotten everywhere" he laughed.

There was a pause in the conversation as C'yra looked down at her hands sadly. "I shouldn't be saying stuff like that, I'm set up to be the head of the village after my mom retires, and she keeps trying to put with me a partner so she can make the deal official."

"Sounds rough." Carrero wasn't sure why she was telling him all this, was he really the first person she has talked to from outside her village?

"Luckily I can choose whoever I want, I just haven't found that person, y'know?"

He was reminded of his old boyfriend, how he was so sure that he was 'that person' and the disappointment when it turned out to be false. "Well it's a tough choice" he says "so don't go in too fast, make sure they really mean something to you."

She smiles fondly, "thanks. There's this girl I've been hitting it off with, I was going to ask her to be my partner but for some reason I think I should look for some other options."

He blushed hard, mind shooting to all the loaded meanings of that statement. Was she asking him out? In the Horde you could wink at a guy and end up covering each other's mouths in the bottom bunk, but this wasn't some quick fling with the door guard, he couldn't let his thoughts go there with her. His heart was begging for her contact, but he pushed it down and stayed safe. "Well I hope you do find someone, I better be heading back, got to get used to my room and all" he dryly laughed as if what he said was in any resemblance of a joke.

Immediately disappointment washed over her face, and she let out a weak smile before waving a goodbye and walking out the store.

After he was sure she was far enough away not to run into her again, he left and went straight to the hotel, the line for the front not seeming to be any shorter. He walked up the stairs and opened the door, only to be greeted by the screeching of his roommates. The two lizards, now recognizable as female given their state of undress, were tangled together on the center cot. Carrero covered his eyes and creamed an apology before a pillow slammed into his head as he shut the door behind him. He slid down with his back against the outside of room, fighting his mind as it punished himself for flubbing the earlier conversation and dreamed up a scenario like the one he walked in on with a black fur ball and a brown human instead.

He closed his eyes, it was going to be an uncomfortable night.

…

It had been a week, and Carrero had begun to make some friends. His lizard roommates apologized for their first night, at least he thinks they did from the tone of their hissing. The kids from the shop followed him around, asking question after question about the Horde. Eventually he just decided to say "yes" to everyone and not bother using the mental work to come up with a better story. C'yra was around, not as elusive as he had thought, though she seemed to pay no special interest in him. She talked to every Horde Trooper she saw, he watched from his perch on the hotel roof as she laughed with the octopus woman he had never got the name of. His heart hurt, he played the conversation over and over again to see where he must have slipped up. He kicked himself for not accepting her date, and then kicked himself again for assuming that's what she meant. She was a sheltered kid who was curious about the bigger world, he had met her types before. Since he was already a preteen when he was thrown into the army, he knew of things like "parties" and "birthdays" and food other than ration bars. The cadets there since they were orphaned babies were much more ignorant, and if he let on too much of what he knew they'd badger him with a million questions. The Fright Zone, and in this case D’riluth, was their entire world. Anything beyond it was fascinating.

He had resigned to that fact that she wasn't interested in him, just the world he came from. As he leaned over the roof's edge to pout, he jumped and nearly slipped when a soft thud of a warm body landed next to him.

"What'cha thinking about?" came the wonderful voice of the cat Carrero had spend the week pining after.

"Uh… well" he didn't know what to say, lying was always hard for him, "you actually."

Her eyes went wide, pupils almost perfect circles, before she looked away and ran a claw through her hair. It was slightly darker than her body fur, the same color as her stripes and tail, but it was cut almost completely to the scalp beside a long comb over the top which fell to shoulder length. It made her ears stand out on top of her head spectacularly, and Carrero had always been fond of undercuts.

"What about me?" she said, still looking away.

"Uhhh…" Shit. Why did he say that? What was happening? How was he going to save this? "That you must be really… uh, interested in the Horde. I, um, saw you talking to the trooper over there."

"Octavia? She's nice but really loud."

Carrero chuckled, "she also smells really bad."

"I know, right?!" C'yra whipped her head around back at him, practically beaming. "Also her face is really dumb."

Carrero made a full belly laugh, only a little performative, "you're speaking my mind. I had to sit next to her the whole trip."

C'yra had a huge grin, fanged teeth visible between her black lips, "I never caught your name by the way."

"Uh, Carrero. In the Horde people usually make up their own names, but my mom gave me mine" he smiled fondly at the memory of her.

"C'yra the Second, but I assume you already knew that."

"Nice to officially meet you" he offered his hand and she shook it. They both hesitated at the touch, but C'yra was the first to pull away.

She cleared her throat, "yes, um, well, I wanted to see you again because I wanted to show you something."

"What do you mean?", he asked.

"Well, the Crimson Waste used to be filled with giant animals, but they're all dead. There's a skeleton nearby, wanna go investigate?"

Carrero was not about to let this slide, he missed his first opportunity but even he couldn't fail this time "That sounds fantastic, let's go!"

"Race yah" she giggled, before jumping off the roof and landing on her feet.

"Uhhh, sure" he called, opting for the stairs.

She beat him by a mile, it was a little embarrassing, especially since she made an effort to stay in his sight so he would know where to go. The sand sucked up his boots and the cacti cut his ankles, but soon he found himself on hard rock. Sprinting as fast as his Horde training allowed, he passed her for just a second before she took the lead again, sticking her tongue out as she effortlessly overtook him.

Both of them were left as sweating, panting wrecks by their destination. "What's the matter, humans can't walk on sand?" she gloated before clutching her side.

"I could have gone way farther" he gasped, "I just… y'know… gotta watch my blood sugar" he chuckled before plopping on the ground under the shade of the giant jaw that overhanged them.

"What do you think it looked like alive?" asked C'yra, mesmerized by the immensity of the skeleton above her.

"Judging by the teeth, really scary" he joked.

"Notice how it doesn't have any legs, and the tail is super long, and the arms are really flat?"

He did notice, now standing beside her and rehydrated from his canteen, "maybe it was a snake or something." Etheria was crawling with giant armless monsters, though Carrero never met one.

"Y'know, my mom said the wastes used to be under the ocean, but the planet shifted and brought it all to the surface."

"That would explain the sand" he laughed as he kicked a rock into a dune.

"Maybe this was a big fish" she said, "stranded here when all the water went away."

Carrero took another look at the skeleton, it didn't look like a fish to him, though the only fish he ever saw were the ones that would come up the Fright Zone toilets when the sewers got backed up.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm glad it's dead." He kicked another rock, this one hitting one of the giant ribs sticking out of the dirt.

"We should name it" she blurted out.

"What, why?"

"Well, when you find a new species, you get to name it right? If these things are all dead cause the ocean went away, then nobody has named them yet, so we should!"

Carrero laughed, the logic seemed sound. "What about… Carrerosaurus!"

She snorted, it was the first time he had heard her snort and suddenly his mind was filled with images of trading clothes at their wedding. Though he probably wouldn't wear her translucent robe as anything other than an overshirt.

She put a finger to her chin "Uhhh, C'yradon."

"C'yrrero"

"What?"

"Oh, uh" he hesitated "it's our names put together. Sometimes in the Horde, when two people are really close, they'll do that to sort of cement the relationship."

"Relationship?" She smirked.

Normally he was quite a cool person, his first girlfriend was acquired (and lost) with just a few finely crafted sentences. Yet he felt like a schoolboy again, fumbling over words and pathetically unable to stop his mouth from saying what he's thinking.

"Well, yeah" his throat was dry "you brought me on a date to name some dead fish in the middle of nowhere, I think it's pretty obvious where this is going." Boy was he trying to keep his composure, to use those flirting skills that would snagg him any of the repressed teenagers that shared his locker room as a cadet. Today he was a man, no longer an awkward lanky teen, yet he was shivering like an introvert in a mandatory school play.

She laughed lightly, hand reaching into her hair again and eyes cast down. "I barely know you."

He waited.

"It's just…" she continued "I want to know you, so bad. You, you're life, the Horde, Etheria outside of this tiny village, a place where my mom isn't constantly breathing down my neck." She tensed, claws popping in and out of her hand. "Can you show me that world?" 

Her eyes were huge, staring into his. Like a rat in skiff lights he stood still, completely frozen.

Slowly, her eyes drifted solemnly downwards. He couldn't stand it, he needed those eyes on him, without hesitation he reached up and grabbed her cheek. 

His mind screamed at him. Her fur is so soft, her face is so cute, her breathing is so hot, her teeth are so scary, her eyes are so beautiful.

She began to lean in, and he followed suit, and as their lips met for just a second Carrero's brain exploded into a rainbow of colors. She pulled away almost immediately, looked around like she was being filmed, and shoved her hand back into her hair like it could cool the heat she felt rising to her face.

"I-I, gotta go. My mom is probably missing me" she says as she begins power walking away, when she's just a slight distance ahead, she falls on all fours and sprints. Carrero stood, stunned, watching as she left. He felt his lip, and the agape mouth of surprise turned into a wide smile of delight. He hoped in place, pumping his fist in the air, laughing uncontrollably, and began the slow walk back to the hotel.

…

The lizards were making out again, before he would have left but living with them for a month has made him realize that they'll be at it for hours whether he was here or not. Plus he didn't feel like going out today, instead he leaned on the window sill and watched as the people of the town mingled and shopped in the plaza below. The Horde Soldiers we're almost completely integrated into the townsfolk, Carrero questioned why Rattlor was so adamant about staying, the longer he was here the less he wanted to leave. It didn't seem like a smart strategy.

As if on cue, the snake man himself entered the street. He wasn't staying at the hotel like the others, instead he was an honored guest of the elder C'yra and so slept in her spare bedroom. At least, that's what Carrero assumed, as he doubted the snake would be happy on a couch.

Eyes wandering up, he saw, leaning out of her own window, the black face of the second C'yra. Immediately he noted her clothes, she wore a veil of cloth over her chest, seeming the bare minimum one would consider a bra, slunk over her neck like a bib. She faced slightly off to the side, and even at this distance he could swear he got a fantastic view of a delicious sideboob.

Entrenched in thought, it took him a sec to notice her turn his way and wave. He waved back, before he saw her draw back and look away. It was at that moment he realized he wasn't wearing a shirt, and a sense of embarrassment washed over the slight relief that she was looking at him the same way. They had met up every day since their kiss, but never went there again. It was a 'let's just not talk about that right now' kind of situation, which was frustrating him. Despite her boldness and being the one to initiate both their meeting, date, and kiss, she had a tendency of backtracking and getting flustered over her own actions. It was ridiculously cute, and Carrero wanted to be the one to take the first step for a change.

In the Horde, there was really only one step after kissing. Emotions were hard and actual healthy relationships were unable to grow in such a toxic and poisonous environment. That usually meant some intense nights in the showers until things got awkward. Carrero knew he didn't want that with C'yra, he wanted something more, he wanted something permanent.

But it was so hard not to think like that! Every night he thought of her, the gasps of the lizard girlfriends in the bed next to him forcing those images into his head. He knew he wanted that with her, but he didn't know when he did or if it was a smart idea.

He looked back and saw her window was empty, he felt bad for not paying attention during his self analysis, but in truth it was hard to pay attention to anything nowadays. Suspecting she must be heading out herself, he throws on his uniform and walks out the door himself, the lizards sighing in relief at the privacy.

As he walked through the plaza, looking for the person he was always looking for, his eyes fell upon Rattlor. The Force Captain was sitting on a bench, large pitcher in his hand as he drank water from the well. He was smiling to himself, looking into the crowd. Carrero followed his eye line, and fell upon a sight that shook him to the core. There, a red lizard in a horde uniform was lightly stroking the hair of a magicat. His face was hard to make out, but the fondness in his eyes was noticeable from across the street. The cat he pet, the same orange bearded one from the shop, was leaning to his touch. Nobody seemed to pay any mind, but as Carrero looked back at the captain, he saw the snake chuckle lightly and take a swig.

Carrero leaned against a wall facing the Plaza. He would scan the surroundings for her face, but he kept landing on Rattlor, who sat in the same spot scanning the crowds himself. What was he looking for? The Force Captain had an aristocratic demeanor, he had heard the snake talk about soldiers like a king about peasants, so he didn't seem the type to people-watch.

Carrero was violently interrupted from his thoughts when a short black cat jumped on him from above, knocking him to the ground.

"You're bad at this" she joked, apparently play-hunting was a favorite game of these cat folk and one Carrero could never get the hang of. "You're dead, that's thirteen to one" she laughed as she sat criss-crossed on his back.

Carrero let out a loud laugh, then flipped himself, pining her to the ground. She could sneak up on him but he was a master of CQC, and soon enough he had her in a loose headlock. "Thirteen to two" he said as he dropped her.

"That doesn't count, you were already dead!"

"If I was dead, how did I just beat you?"

Her cheeks puffed out in a pout, and Carrero's heart stopped as his mind was filled with images of their honeymoon in Salineus. He blushed and pushed those thoughts away, "what took you so long, I was waiting."

"Aw, did you miss me?"

The part of his brain that screens what he says before he says it failed once again, as he let out a low "yeah" before blushing again.

This time, her blush matched his, and they silently sat on the floor avoiding eye contact as people walked around them.

"So, uh, I was thinking that we, y'know, go somewhere...uh, somewhere without people? Y'know?" she muttered out, she was so cute when she was flustered. Again Carrero's head went to the showers, and again he made a point to push that down. She deserved better than to be treated as a fling.

"Yeah, what do you have in mind?" he asked.

"Uh, my room maybe" she blushed.

Ok, yeah, no stopping the shower thoughts now. His mind was in circles, they've barely kissed and she wants it now? He was used to this, in fact it often went the other way around with the first kiss and the shower happening at the same time. He didn't want this, yet his eyes went back over her transparent robe and fluttered past her collar bones and her belly button and the bit of hair in-between her cleavage, and he wanted it so bad.

"Uh, sure" he choked out, a phrase he found himself saying a lot. Whatever happened to taking the lead today?

She led him to her house, up the stairs, and into her room. It amused him, just an hour earlier he had been looking at her through his window and now he could see the hotel though hers. What first caught his eye was the sheer amount of fluff, the bed was just a giant round pillow dumped on the floor, and stuffed animals and pillows and blankets littered the room. The only thing not made of cloth and feathers was a vanity, crafted out of dried cactus with their needles removed.

"Well it's much nicer than my place" he sputtered out "both the hotel and the Horde."

"Tell me about your home in the Horde," she asked.

"Well, we sleep in barracks. Fifteen people per room I believe, all in bunks lined up next to each other."

Her inquisitive smile turned to a frown, "that sounds terrible, you don't have any privacy?"

He laughed, "that's nothing compared to the showers. There's not even any barriers between the shower heads, it's just a big room we stand around naked in."

Her face was of pure horror, "and you like that?"

"Of course not" he said, "in truth, the Fright Zone is terrible. It makes this place feel like heaven."

Her frown sunk even lower, her eyes trembled as they held back tears.

"Woah woah woah, I'm sorry. That's a bit brash, it's still my home, I don't want you to totally give up on the idea of coming with me."

She froze, "you think I want to come with you?"

He rubbed his arm, "well I hope you do. To be honest, I can't really imagine a life without you at this point".

She sulked, looking down, before letting out a soft "me either."

They both stood there for a while in silence, before Carrero plopped himself down on her bed.

"So soft, I feel like I'm being swallowed by a giant sea sponge."

C'yra snorted, oh did he love that, before launching herself beside him. The force knocked him off, landing on the stone floor with a bang. She looked over the edge of the bed as he rubbed the back of his head, laughing at his pain. Not one to be outdone, he crawls his way back up and grabs onto her waist, hoisting her into the air before tossing her off the side. She's in hysterics now, laughing and snorting and smiling as she gets off the floor and pounces.

The position is… familiar to Carrero. She laid on top of him, holding his wrists in her hands and restraining him with her body weight. Her legs straddled his waist, and her hair dangled past her head and tickled his nose.

The tension was palpable, she had stopped laughing as they both stared into each other's eyes, frozen as he poured the bright blue and black of her face into his memory.

Well, he did say he wanted to take the lead, so in a moment of weakness he leaned forward and kissed her. She shot back, surprised, before leaning down herself. It started off light, pecking each other's lips, but deepened and deepened until he could feel her scratchy tongue tickling the roof of his mouth. She has both hands cupping his face now, while his arms held the small of her back, trying desperately to force as much contact between them as possible as he hugged her as tight as he could.

Her hips began grinding against his, moans escaping her mouth, and panic shoots into Carrero's mind. No, he can't, he won't let this end up like his last relationships. He didn't want to be a friend with benefits with C'yra, he wanted so much more.

"No, no, stop, stop please" he says between kisses, his heart breaking as she pulls away, her eyes already watering and pupils returning to their slim slits.

She pulls her hands to her face, "You always do this C'yra you're stupid stupid stupid" she rants as she uses her balled up hands to hit herself in the face. She begins to stand, but Carrero grabs her arms and forces her into a hug as he sits up to meet her.

"No, no, you didn't do anything wrong. That was amazing, I've been wanting to do that since I first saw you… it's just… it's too early for… y'know." He pulls away from the hug to look her in the eyes, tears continue to fall yet her face remains static. "It's just, you're so special. I want you so bad, but I know if we do this, then that's going to define our relationship."

"I don't understand" she sobs.

"I love you C'yra, and I want to be your boyfriend before your sex friend."

C'yra is stunned, she wiped away a few tears and nods slightly while stifling a sob. "I… I love you too" she says finally. "I want you to be my partner."

Carrero starts tearing up, he kisses her again, gently this time, lust replaced with love. She begins crying again, kissing back, before separating and leaning into his embrace. He lays back, allowing her to curl up on his chest, and smiles as she starts to purr.

"He loves me, he loves me, he loves me" she repeats to herself quietly. He kissed her head softly, and despite it being the middle of the day, he started to doze off.

…

Carrero checks the date, one month until he leaves. They've talked about it, and he knows he wants to be with C'yra much more than he wants to be with the Horde. Whether they leave or stay, they'll be together. The only real problem is that, if he refused to leave with the Horde, he'll be considered a traitor and sent to Beast Island, and he didn't really want any beetles to crawl through his bloodstream anytime soon.

Yet, he knew he didn't want to subject C'yra to the Fright Zone. He'd revealed much more about it to her, and she wasn't as eager as she had been to leave her little town. Apparently the Valley of the Lost was a thirteen mile trek west, so if it comes to it they could head out there and maybe find a home amongst the gangs that run the place. To be honest, none of the options were very appealing.

The final trump card was for C'yra to announce Carrero as her life partner. Apparently that would make him whatever the equivalent of a king is in a tiny town of cats. Would her mother accept it? Would Rattlor accept it? Doesn't that still count as defecting? Again, the options weren't great, and Carrero found himself going over them again and again in his head. He was laying against a wall in an alleyway between two shops, C'yra was supposed to meet him but he knew it was tough for her to keep sneaking out, so he was pretty sure he'd be sleeping in his own bed tonight.

For now though, the brightest moon shined so hot in the noon sky that he found himself wandering to the well to grab a drink. Pouring himself a glass from the suspended bucket, Carrero leaned back and closed his eyes as he let the cold water fill his stomach.

That tiny piece of comfort was immediately ripped away when he opened his eyes to see Rattlor standing over him. Reflexively, he stood at attention with his hand in a salute, "Force Captain, Sir."

"At ease" he says, filling the pitcher he had been carrying around with him. He was terrifying, a pattern of red, black, and yellow covered his body. Carrero tried to remember the saying, "red on yellow, dead fellow" or something. In the end, it didn't really matter if Rattlor was venomous or not, given him being seven feet tall and more ripped than a bull.

Carrero stood in his spot, hand lowered but back still straight. He had no idea what to do, does the captain want him to leave or would that be rude? Sweat starts to drop off his brow, a different source than the brightest moon this time.

"How are the locals treating you Soldier?" he asks, the hiss in his voice slightly more subdued as he wet his lips with the well water.

"Very good sir, I feel right at home." Carrero kicks himself for saying that, mind reeling at all the ways the Captain could interpret that.

Unexpectedly, Rattlor laughs, a deep booming laugh that shakes Carrero's core. "That's great son, I hope that princess picks you as her partner."

The world collapses under Carrero, he stutters, hands shaking, his life doomed. "How… how did you know?"

"I like to watch people, it's a fun way to kill time before we can leave. Like look over there, that little boy is obsessed with Octavia. Loves her tentacles, keeps trying to get her to throw him with them," again he laughs. "She's got a sour expression, but I guarantee you she's warming up to him."

"That's… sweet" Carrero says.

"I know, it's been two months and I've already seen six couples form, and too many xfriendships to count. The invasion is going perfectly."

"Uh, Invasion?" Carrero feels the mood get darker, the hiss in Rattlor's voice becoming more apparent as he tries to whisper.

"Cultural Genocide my boy, pump a population full of some hormonal young adults, let them mingle and form relationships, and watch as they all fall to the Horde. How do you think we defeated the Scorpions? Scare them up a bit with an occupation, let them decide the terms but slowly move the line over time, convince them it's just a crazy theory that we're slowly killing them off. One by one, you destroy their landmarks and homes, never going too far for them to object out of fear of what you might do. Eventually, they realize their cute little castle has been bulldozed over and their King 'commited suicide in custody' and it's too late. Hordak is smart, it scares me sometimes, but hey that's why we're on his side!" He playfully elbows Carrero and walks back to C'yra's house.

Carrero leans over and starts to heave in the sand, his head spinning and his eyes watering over. He knew the Horde weren't exactly the good guys, he's seen too many innocents get shot in the back to believe that, but this… this was evil. A sinister kind of evil that finally caused a retch strong enough to spill mucus on the floor. Worse, he was an active part of it, he was killing C'yra by loving her.

He sprinted, slamming the door open, startling Rattlor who was reclining on a mat he had set up on the floor. As Carrero bolted up the stairs, he heard Rattlor chuckle to himself.

He swung open C'yra's bedroom door, opened his mouth to warn her, and immediately closed it. Laying in her side in her bed, hips slightly raised, tail flicking, legs slowly rubbing together, C'yra was wearing her usual transparent robes… with nothing underneath.

Carrero was stunned, she slowly blinked her eyes and seductively purred, "oh, honey, I'm glad you can make it. I was so… cold, don't you want to warm me up?"

Her flirting was ridiculously cute, in a sort of 'what a virgin thinks foreplay is' kind of way. It took everything in his power to peel his eyes away from her bright pink nipples contrasting with her black fur. He rushed to her, grabbing her shoulders. She gasped, "ooh, rough, I like it."

"No, I…" Carrero stuttered, brain barely functioning. 

C'yra's eyes sank and tears began to form, "oh, I thought we would be ready" she wraps her arms around her breast in embarrassment.

"No, no, no, this is literally the best thing I've seen in my life, I want you so bad it's starting to physically hurt, but I need to tell you something important."

C'yra eyes flashed concern, "what's wrong?"

"The Horde is planning something, they aren't just going to leave in a month. Rattlor, he told me, they're conquering your land as we speak."

"What? I don't… I don't understand."

"He wants people like us to get together, so that when the Horde attacks you won't fight back."

"No, that's stupid. We'll fight for our home no matter what."

"Would you fight me for your home?"

She hesitates, the tears in her eyes returning.

"C'yra, I love you so much. I would leave the Horde in a heartbeat to be with you, I will not be the one to fight you, but we have to do something to stop whatever Rattlor is planning."

"I… I don't want to think about stuff like that" she says weakly. His heart breaks over and over again watching her like this. "I just wanted us to be partners."

"We will, I promise." He hugs her tightly. "I don't know what I'm going to do, but we will not leave each other's side, ok."

"Okay" she smiles. "I guess the mood is a little ruined" she chuckles dryly, "kind of a waste of this robe."

"Well…" Carrero starts, "I think we may be able to salvage this situation."

C'yra's face turns into a wide and smug grin, "well, honey, I still am a little cold, maybe you could warm me up?" she pops the p, blue eyes staring longingly into Carrero's.

"I think I can do that."

…

One week till the Horde leaves, C'yra the First sits comfortably at her desk, flipping through papers made from parchment and constantly glancing at the moon calendar like it will make the days go by any faster. At the time, three months seemed like a good compromise, especially since Rattlor had suggested a full year at first. She felt like she got a deal, but now she's just wishing she had slit that snake's throat when she had the chance.

This occupation, she refused to call them guests, had ruined her schedule. They needed to relocate soon, sandstorm season was approaching and they needed the whole village relocated to the other side of the mountains in four weeks. They should have started packing now, but part of the agreement was not leaving until the Horde did.

The other problem was with her daughter, who refused to choose a partner. There were six fantastic choices that she had picked out, but yet the little brat didn't take a liking to any of them. It was easy when the older woman was a kid, her mother just dropped the tallest boy in her age range in front of her and said "here's your partner." Sure he was a brute and barely lived past thirty, but he gave her a daughter and kept the bloodline going. That's all that mattered.

There was the sound of a door opening and she shut her eyes in frustration. There was only one person in this house who didn't bother to knock.

"What is it, Rattlor?"

"Hello your Majesty, I'm glad we've become so acquainted that you can recognize my footsteps."

C'yra the First groaned, "Don't you have some rats to eat or something."

"Well there is one little furry mammal I've had my eyes on" he wasn't even trying to hide the hiss in his voice, causing him to sound slightly slurred. He wasn't drunk, hopefully, as she made sure the alcohol was very well hidden.

"Get your scaly ass out of here if you think that's going to work on me" she snapped.

He laughed, "no your Majesty, that's not why I'm here. I'm here to say I am so happy that your daughter chose one of us Hordesmen to be her partner. In fact, if those noises I hear at night are what I think they are, you might even be expecting a grandchild soon" he laughed again, even harder, like he told the funniest joke he ever heard.

"What do you think you're talking about? If you say another word, the agreement is over, and you will leave this town."

"Another word" he said slyly, "We're heading out tonight." He turned away and began out the door, "but I wasn't lying about your daughter, or the noises" he let out a loud cackle and shut the door behind him.

…

C'yra was purring as loud as she had ever purred before, her head resting on her lover as she played with his chest hair. He in turn drew circles on the short hair of her undercut, scratching just a centimeter behind her ear.

This was heaven, pure and simple. They had been awake for a few hours, yet they had never even considered leaving the bed. Despite their naked state, they had sworn off sex for the time being, as a slight bump in C'yra's belly betrayed the reason why.

Their plan was simple: get pregnant, go to mom, tell her about their affair and how C'yra chose him as her partner, tell her about the Horde's plan, and run them out of town. Admittedly the pregnancy part wasn't that important, it just hopefully made the partner decision carry a bit more weight. They needed to prove to her that Carrero was on her side, not the Horde's, so that he wouldn't be exiled like the rest of them.

But for now, with a week still to go, they laid in bed with a warmth neither wanted to leave from.

A sound from outside the door startled them, quickly they both rushed to put on their clothes and the door swung open. Hunched, half dressed, and frozen with fear, the couple saw the looming figure of C'yra of D’riluth the First. 

"LIVING ROOM, NOW" she belted, then slammed the door behind her.

Shit.

Slowly, hand in hand, they walked down the stairs and sat themselves on the mats layed out on the room floor. The mother sat, cross legged, eyes closed in light meditation. C'yra led Carrero to do the same, legs crossed and eyes closed, waiting for the words that failed to come.

"A beautiful family" came a deep voice from the door, all three opened their eyes and swung their heads in its direction. There stood Rattlor, leaning against the door frame. "Do you really want to break this up your Majesty?"

C'yra the First's eyes scowled a glare of hatred, and she turned to her daughter. "He will not be your partner, he is leaving today with the rest of the Horde, that is final."

"Mom, please" the woman begged, but her face did not soften like before.

"You directly disobeyed me, you were hitting it off so well with Jasmine, and yet you get in a sexual fling with a human, a human with the Horde!"

"Ma'am, it's not like that" Carrero starts, "we genuinely love each-"

"I'm pregnant!" C'yra shouts, tears in her eyes. "He's the father, so if you kick him out you lose me to"

Rattlor exhaled air from his nose, smiled, took a swig of water, and put in his opinion "are you really going to break up young love, ruin your only chance of a heir, just out of some unfounded prejudice against us Hordesmen, who have been nothing but nice to you?"

"No!" Carrero shouted, "Rattlor is planning to wipe you all out, you can't trust him."

"And I can trust you?" the woman spits, a harsh tone in her voice. "I've known from the beginning about the Horde, its plans to wiggle its fingers into our culture, and I just let it happen? My own daughter sleeping with one, having his baby? I'm sick. If you love the Horde so much, leave with them and never return."

C'yra began crying, desperately clinging to Carrero's arm for any kind of support. "Mom… please" she begged, "it's your grandkitten."

Finally the older woman's face began to crack, her eyes dropping, the mane of fur along her neck sagging, her ears slightly droop.

"This is just heartbreaking, that isn't irony" said Rattlor, still in the doorway. "I've got to get my army ready though, see you in a moment."

At the sound of the snake's voice, C'yra the First grew back her cold exterior and she stood from the mat, power walking out the door. The couple follow quietly, her good side being their only chance.

Outside, standing on the tank which hadn't moved in months, Rattlor rallied the townsfolk below him. Horde Troopers and Magicats blended together into a single crowd, and Rattlor spoke to all of them.

"Cats, Soldiers, children, mothers, and lovers, there has been a change of plans. Sadly, we had to reschedule, and we will be leaving later today."

The crowd groaned and whined.

"Now, I understand many of you don't wish to be separated, you've grown attached to each other, you think of each other as home." He placed a hand on his heart and closed his eyes for emphasis, his hiss completely gone as he donned a persona of a motivational speaker.

"It's sad, but we cannot stay together, for your leader has decreed it" he gestures towards C'yra the First, who has just climbed the tank to meet him face to face.

"The Horde" she shouts "does not belong here. They only sow seeds of destruction, they have tricked you into thinking it is peace."

The crowd remains silent, the air thick with emotion.

Rattlor speaks again, "Before we go, I am glad to announce that the daughter of her Majesty has finally chosen her life partner!" The crowd cheers, Rattlor continues "and he is none other than a Hordesman himself, please meet the happy couple of C'yrrero!" He points an open hand into the crowd, which parts and reveals the two holding each other tightly. Neither of them know how to react, they can't let her mother seperate them, but they cannot trust Rattlor's intentions.

The snake starts again, "not only that, but her highness is expecting a grandchild to be, as our lovely princess C'yra is carrying the new ruler of your land!" 

The crowd erupts in cheers, people patting the couple on the back in congratulations.

"No!" shouts the old woman, "they will not be together and they will not carry that child to term!" 

The crowd gasps, and C'yra the First hesitates as she feels the eyes on her skin. "The Horde is planning to wipe us out, destroy our culture and replace it with their own. This is how they are doing it, by soiling our bloodline!"

The crowd boos, a particular rowdy group near the front began throwing stones.

"Please please everyone" calls out Rattlor, "this is no way to act, she is the leader and her way is law. Everyone pack your bags, we will leave the Magicats alone."

Again the crowd boos, cats and soldiers alike shouting obscenities towards the old woman.

"That is, unless, we practice a little bit of democracy" Rattlor smirks, the hiss in his voice slipping through slightly. "How would you all react to a new leader, one that would allow the Horde to stay and for the lovely couple to have their child."

The crowd cheers, C'yra the First cowers back as her eyes grow wide in fear.

Rattlor takes his chance, "I would be that leader, you could live with each other for the rest of your lives, loving and laughing and being a family."

The sound is deafening, the cats and soldiers screaming their support.

"I guess that settles it, I will gladly take over as-"

"NO!"

Carrero leaps onto the tank and slams into Rattlor, sending the snake off the edge and into the sand.

"C'yra the First is right. Not about me and her" he gestures towards C'yra the second, "but about the Horde. Rattlor's plan is for you to fall into service with him so he can conquer this land."

Rattlor wraps his arm around Carrero's shoulders, laughing sarcastically after he had climbed back onto the tank. "My boy, they know this. I said it myself, D’riluth will be under the Horde and everyone will be happier for it." Reacting to his speech, the crowd cheers. "Now, everyone" Rattlor turns to the crowd. "I have this document from the ex-ruler of this land. It says you must migrate to the other side of the mountains to avoid the summer sand storms. I know a place where you'd never have to deal with those again, how about we all get in the transports and head towards the Fright Zone!"

The reaction of the crowd was less enthusiastic as Rattlor had hoped, and Carrero let himself believe that he would lose.

"The Fright Zone has free food, housing, health care, and many recreational facilities. Have any of you 

ever been bowling? Trust me, it's fun. You can live in safety, with state of the art science meaning unlimited clean water and plumbing."

Carrero chuckled, this giant snake-man had turned into a property salesman.

Seeing his pitch not quite reaching the inhabitants, Rattlor sighed and stomped three times on the tank. The turret wheeled around, Rattlor covered his ears, and it fired on C'yra's house, blowing the entire second story to dust. The crowd panicked and screamed, Rattlor held up his hand to silence them, and roaring as loud as he could, voice barely recognizable with the hiss, "YOU WILL BE LEAVING WITH US TODAY, WILLINGLY OR UNWILLINGLY."

Soldiers dressed in armor standing at the back of the crowd began shocking those in front of them, urging the crowd to move forward into the transport trucks. Some fought back, others cowered, yet still many clung to the arms of the soldiers themselves. Asking them to please stop, holding tight to a relationship they built. It was in vain, as the soldiers edged forward, some using their batons while others begged their friends and lovers to just do what the Force Captain says. It's better if you just comply.

Carrero grabbed C'yra's arm, "we need to get out of here. We'll book it the the Valley of the Lost"

"We'll never make it" she said, "not with this baby and with no supplies."

"We have to try" he begged, "I don't want them to live a life in the Horde."

She closed her eyes and rested her head against his, "okay."

He lifted her in a bridle carry and launched through the soldiers. Hands and batons reached out to grab and hit him, but he sprinted across the sand with a bit more skill and practice than his old army pals, as he ran due west.

"Leave them" shouted Rattlor, "we'll get them later. For now, we worry about you." He turned to C'yra the first, surrounded by soldiers, a sadistic glint in his eye and he set his own baton to the highest setting.

…

  
  


Using the moons as direction, the couple slowly walked due west. Thirsty, tired, and depressed, they walked forward in the endless dunes and cacti in a vain hope of finding asylum. Carrero clung to his girlfriend as tight as he could, helping her walk as the heat and pregnancy took its toll.

In the distance, a giant three headed snake slithered across the dunes, on its back was a trailer tied securely with rope. As the couple stumbled forward, it turned its way to them, slithering forward as they collapsed from the heat exhaustion.

…

Eight months since they had run from D’riluth, C'yrrero had found a new home in the Valley of the Lost. Thankfully, even murderous criminals had a soft spot for pregnant cat girls, and someone can gain a lot of respect for going against the Horde.

Carrero kissed his wife gently on her forehead, and she purred happily as he placed a soup tray on her lap. She had ballooned in size, apparently magic cats can have up to twelve babies at a time, but they were both hoping for a reasonable four to six.

"You ever think what they're doing, in the Fright Zone?" she asked, a sad tone to her voice.

"Uh, You… want to talk about this now? You want the honest or the nice answer?"

"Honest"

He cleared his throat, "well, the younger kids will be put in the cadet program and groomed into being soldiers. Anyone older than preteen will probably be sent to the factories or mines, if they're lucky cleaning duty."

C'yra swallowed, "do you think we could have done something?"

"No honey, we did the only thing we could. But we're safe now, as a family, that's what matters."

"I just can't help feeling guilty."

"I know," he cuddled up next to her, "me too."

… 

Carrero woke with a start, the door was being repeatedly slammed into. The Valley of the Lost wasn't exactly a gated community, but most burglars took the effort to be stealthy. He grabbed his stun baton and placed a comforting hand on his wife, her eyes blazed with fear as she held her stomach in a vain attempt to protect something so important.

As Carrero left the bedroom, the front door split open, and in walked two Horde soldiers in full armor.

"No" he said to himself, before aiming the baton and blasting the first soldier, sending them careening into the opposite wall. The second soldier reached for theirs before facing a similar fate.

"Soldier, Soldier, please" came the familiar deep voice of his Force Captain, "we simply wanted to check up on you."

Rattlor did not enter the house, and Carrero did not move. They stood there, out of each other's sights, waiting for the other to make their move.

Suddenly, an explosion from behind sent Carrero to the floor. He screamed and ran back into the bedroom, the wall blown off and bed thrown to the side. Carrero held onto his wife, who lay motionless on the floor.

"I'm glad you're willing to cooperate" teased Rattlor, before slamming his baton into Carrero's head, knocking him out instantly.

…

Carrero woke up in his bunk, looking around he thought for a second it must have been a dream, but the sand in his boots and the aching in his head told him differently.

He stood on shaky knees, looking around he seemed to be alone. Slowly he staggered forward with the blood rushing out of his head and attempted to open the door out of the Barracks. It was locked shut, he banged on it with his fists, the pain only adding to how horrible he felt.

The sliding doors opened with an electronic hiss, and Rattlor stood before him. "Glad you're awake, I was going to wait by your bed but felt you needed some privacy."

"Where. Is. My. Wife." Carrero spit out, blood dripping from his mouth with each word.

"That's exactly who I wanted to show you."

Carrero was loaded onto a wheelchair by a nurse with a jellyfish for a head. Rattlor was the one to push him though, past the locker rooms and the showers and the commissary and the infirmary, until he had been pushed to the farthest edge of the Fright Zone. They stood on a concrete wall, surrounding a huge section cut off from the rest of the Fright Zone. The walls acted like a huge bowl, slowly being filled with garbage and sewage from pipes and trucks.

Rattlor pointed to one truck, "there it is." It dumped several tons worth of ash into the pit, and drove off.

"Every day, they empty the ash collected at the bottom of the incinerator, and dump it here to be buried and forgotten. Your wife was in today's pile."

"Y-you… killed my… wife?" Carrero, bleeding from his ears from the concussion, found it hard to fully understand what was happening.

"No, no, no. It's just, out in the field, C-sections can be very dangerous. We couldn't just leave the poor heirs to the throne to die in their mother's belly. So we saved them, well, we saved one. The others are in that pile too."

Carrero began to cry.

"Surgery can be very complicated my boy, unfortunately we didn't have any medics with us, so I had to do it myself. These big claws did a terrible job stitching her up" he laughed.

Carrero tried to reach for him, but he was too weak to move.

"Official diagnosis is Hypovolemic Shock, hard to get replacement blood when her species is functionally extinct. Turns out they didn't have a strong enough immune system for city life, it's unfortunate."

Carrero slumped into the chair, begging for someone to put him to sleep.

"Welp, we better get you to the infirmary. Got to get you fixed up, the greatest soldiers are the ones willing to die, and I have a feeling you'll be one of the best. Oh, and Carrero, never betray us again" his voice was low and animalistic, "I hope you learned your lesson."

…

The nurse placed the baby in the incubator, the tiny kitten had brown fur with darker stripes and freckles, and behind the closed lids was one blue and one yellow eye.

She slept softly, never knowing the story of her birth.

"This one is of the upmost importance, I know your track record here and I will not allow it. This child must grow strong and healthy." A deep voice from a tall and dark woman belted across the room.

"Y-yes, ma'am" squirmed the nurse, holding a tiny cooing infant the sorceresses had given her.

"How many are in this ward?"

"Uh, fou… uh five, ma'am"

"Perfect. I will train this batch of recruits myself"

"M-ma'am, it's the job of t-the uh…"

"SILENCE. You will follow the orders I have placed on you, keep these infants alive until they are able to join me in the cadet program, if but one of them fails to survive under your supervision, there won't be anything left of you to send to Beast Island, Do You Understand?"

"Y-yes, Shadow Weaver, ma'am. You can count on me."

"For your sake, I hope so."

The woman left, leaving the shivering nurse alone in the infirmary. She placed the tiny blue eyed baby into the incubator next to the hairy newborn and quickly hurried out of the room to notify her supervisor.

The tiny kitten opened her eyes for the first time, and through the clear plastic of the incubator, she made eye contact with the only person she'd ever see as family.

**Author's Note:**

> So, uh, my first fanfic for this show and the first fanfic I've written in about six years. Noelle's comments on Catra being Latina confused me because she's a cat, then I thought "what if she was half cat and half Latina" which would explain how short her fur is compared to the other Magicats we see in the show. Then my mind went to who her parents were and how they met and, well, 6 hours of writing straight and I got here. Please comment!
> 
> Catra's "true name" according to some merchandise is C'yra of D'riluth III, so it would suggest her mother and Grandmother would share that name.
> 
> There won't be a follow up to this, so sadly no Catra meeting her father. In truth though, there's a reason there aren't any old people in the Horde, so she probably never will.


End file.
